Life's Like That
by and belgium
Summary: A life-changing moment, an unexpected surprise, a speechless event and a shameless act. All these have one in common for 4 growing adolescents - a significant twist and “what?” Implied Pairing: Joshua X Neku
1. Neku

**Standard Disclaimers**

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Chapter 1: Neku

"You hardly agree with anything I suggest that we do together Neku, what's with the change all of the sudden?"

"Come on," I smile "Can't a son have a movie night with his own mom once in a while?" My mother returns with a light chortle, sitting down on the sofa next to me, a bowl of popcorn between her hands.

"Did you set the film up? You know how I am with technology" Her mouth is full with popcorn, try not to choke, mom

"Yeah, I did - and don't get me started on what happened with Dad's brand new speakers--" She starts laughing out loud, that incident always kills her

"Oh! You be quiet!" she says, slapping the air between us in hysterics

"Since then , dad never let you near ANY of his things within a 30-meter radius!" She starts laughing even more - it's always infectious, even I started to chuckle.

She takes a deep breath to clear her mind - it was THAT much of a funny moment to her… that or she has something else to say. "I know that dad's totally busy with work all the time, so you know he's not going to make it - I hope you're completely fine with that"

"I am, I mean, it's kinda expected from him, but don't worry - let's just sit back and enjoy the film, alright?" I smile at her, she nods and smiles back, giving me a reassuring notion.

I grab a handful of popcorn, pressing the play button for the movie to start - but it always shows the trailers first. I avoid skipping it, despite the fact it's a DVD - maybe I'm just waiting for mom to ask me a question.

"So what's this movie about, honey?" she asks

"I don't know" I lied "A friend recommended it to me, so…"

"But have you read what the back of the DVD said?"

"You mean the blurb?"

"I thought those were only for books?"

"I think it works for both ways"

"Oh!" she giggles "I learn something new everyday" I smile to make the moment less awkward, as I grab the DVD case and acted as if I scanned the blurb - I already knew what happens in the film, I was told it, but I didn't want to ruin the whole plot for her.

"It's a romance film…" I said bluntly, avoiding any indications

"Ahh, that sounds lovely - are you sure you don't mind romantic films? Seeing as you boys have a love for those explosions and giant robots!" I turn my head, my face suddenly burning

"Mom! For the last time, I do NOT have a NGE obsession!"

She raises her hands in defence, giggling at my irritation - I really did NOT have a NGE obsession! "Okay, okay, you don't! Calm yourself!"

I breath, "But really, I'm okay with any film, just as long as we watch it together. As in, it's the company that counts, not the film, right?"

"My, my, look at my Neku all… all…"

"All…?"

"Oh, I lost the word for it. Social? Sentimental? Somewhere between those words, but that aside-" she turns to look at me "I wonder who made you turn a new leaf? It's bound to be one of those new friends of yours… but which one?" she puts her thinking pose on - eyes directed at the top right, right hand on her chin; that only spells one thing: uh-oh

"Mom, really--"

"Ooh! It's probably that beautiful, young girl with that plush she carries! Shiki, was it?" she questions naively

"Mom," I giggle at her attempts to sound and sound analytical "The film, it's gonna play now?" I gesture at the TV, showing a wheat field and the initial credits showing.

"Ohh!" she gets excited to watch a movie she doesn't know much about. She grabs the popcorn bowl to her, hogging it all to herself - besides, she made it for herself, no point I try and take some.

But I hope this goes well.

30 minutes already into the film, and the plot doesn't get any less or more interesting for me. I glance at my mother, eyes glued to the TV, the bowl of popcorn now just a bowl of air. I start to wonder when that scene was gonna pop-up, I mean, Josh lent me the DVD and told me, confidently, that there would be a scene in this film where--

"OH GOD!" She shrieks, scaring me half to death

"What!" was the only thing I could say before she stared having an unending row about the movie and the scene it just had.

"You know, that was just--Just unexpected!" she says angrily "I never thought this was the type of film that would taint itself to THAT extent! And I was starting to like it!" she recoils away from the TV screen, groaning, showing a second of one pure emotion - disgust.

"I know, I KNOW, that those actors - if I'm even ALLOWED to call them that - have a higher possibility of going to hell than… oh say, a mugger. But I do hope they turn their life around before it's too late for them… wait, this isn't reality - but, how much were they bribed to do this?!" she exhales, then looks at me with a small smile, like it was just one of her normal rants - it wasn't like her normal rants, REALLY, it wasn't.

"I hope you don't think I'm nuts just because I have too much of these crazily unexpected rants; but hey," she shrugs light-heartedly "I'm your mom. You'll learn to love me for who I am, right?" she giggles and stares back at the TV screen.

I didn't say anything.

"But seriously, those homos are gonna go to hell for that French kiss"

Mom, I picked this film as a way to finally tell you about 'the person who made me turn a new leaf', to finally come clean and tell you these things…

How do you expect me to accept you for your insanity, when you can't even accept the fact that I love him?

My mother then acknowledges my silence, nudging me "Neku, the movie's done, want to watch another?"

"What?"

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I bet you expected that.

_**N.B.**_ This was inspired by something I read in the Internet somewhere (if you find it, please tell me) and it went along the lines of someone having a movie night with their mother and in this film, there was a scene where 2 people of the same sex were making-out, during that scene the mother was saying all these things like 'they're gonna go to hell' and other rather insulting things. Turns out, they picked that movie as a way to come out and tell their mother about their current relationship going strong and marriage may be a possibility. Or somewhere between those lines…

I bit my thumb after I read that.


	2. Beat

**A/N:** You CAN skip the 'Beat Perspective' if you want, but try to cope with it no matter how much the first 20 seconds of this chapter makes you want to tear your hair out.

I know I did… in a way.

Look at it this way - it was an experiment gone wrong in the process that I don't want to re-do because I'll just end up with the same results…

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Chapter 2 - Beat

Oh man, oh man, oh man!

I am gonna be so late for school! First I gotta get changed, put on my uniform--

"Beat! 5 minutes!"

I'M COMING! I'M COMING!

God! Where did I put that frickin' bag?!

Where's that tie?!

My skateboard's… MY SKATEBOARD! Wait-- outside!

Right! I'm ready-- nope, not yet… I'm still on my boxers…

Where the hell IS everything?!

"Beat… Do you want me to make you a sandwich?"

NO THANKS RHYME! I GOT IT! YOU CAN GO WITHOUT ME!

…did she leave yet?

"Are you sure Beat?"

YEAH, I'M SURE! I'LL MEET YOU AT THE SKATE PARK AFTER SCHOOL, ALRIGHT?

"Fine, bye Beat!" walk, walk, walk… -doorslam-

Okay… she's gone… now what?

The clock says I have 4 minutes now, and I have to make my food - don't wanna starve again like last time, I fainted in the middle of the damn road!

Look, now's not the time for flashbacks - I have my uniform on now, now I have to-- Aww… she didn't have to put out the bread and the chocolate spread out on the counter for me--

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP--

OH MAN! If I don't leave now--!

Oh, -DO-I-DO!!!

Okay - list:

Shovel bread and chocolate spread in bag - DONE

Get my bag - DONE

Close the door AND lock it - DONE

Grab skateboard and do 50mph and forget about the pedestrians - DONE… but not painlessly, duh.

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--- [This POV is killing me, probably you too] ---

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The school bell rings out loud, signifying the students's freedom from school, all of which are getting ready for the weekend which yelled 'Shibuya' for their ears to hear. Beat was no exception, he and Rhyme could not wait to see their friends near Hachiko tomorrow - just like every Saturday, all 3 of them would be there; a stainless record of attendance for them all - even the Composer himself while guarding Shibuya in his own little way.

Beat never had a chance to get breaks, and the fact that he missed breakfast meant that he had to order Set Combo-B THREE TIMES just to get him through the rest of the afternoon. And boy… he did NOT regret the fact that his wallet was lighter than it was… The school's curry is always the best, according to him, and it was money well spent.

As Beat walks out of his school, feeling vibrations from his pocket, having an incoming call from-

"Hey Phones! What's up?"

"Beat, me and the others are here in the skate park with Rhyme - get here now, you're missing out on the fun!" the sounds of Rhyme's and Shiki's laughter could be heard in the background, harmonising with Joshua's tone of storytelling on an incident he and Neku had in a train recently.

"Don' worry! I'll be there in no time - see ya" before Neku could say which specific skate park, Beat hung up his phone and went to the wrong skate park as fast as he could.

It wasn't until the 2nd skate park he went to that he noticed how sizzling hot it was underneath his beanie, beads of sweat trickling at the side of his pink face. 3rd skate park's the charm right?

And correct, he was.

But where's the charm in all that, when Shiki walks towards him, huffing about how late he's been and that it was rare for all of them to meet up on a school day and mentions the sacrifices everyone, especially she, had made. Beat lost her at 'rare', responding with, a rather expected: '15 minutes ain't no big a'deal' and resulted to Shiki screeching at him even more.

Joshua then claps sardonically at Shiki's 'stunning performance' as he said, saying that she could make any man contradictory to her views quiver with fear. Shiki's eyebrow twitches in mixed emotion - mostly confusion and angry, and gets back to Neku and Rhyme.

Beat walks to Joshua, asking him if the Composer business was going alright - Joshua was never one to be keen on listening to Beat's substandard syntax, but he always found it very tolerable. Joshua replies that it's been going well, and that there are no problems in any of the Planes anymore since the last Game.

Beat got lost after 'Planes' but heard 'no problems', he smiles and nods as Neku, Shiki and Rhyme walk towards the two blondes.

Neku and Beat hi-five as they both greet each other like normal teenage boys, their gesture full of raw masculinity; Beat and Joshua both thought [though they never discussed it, but they inwardly gave each other hints] that Neku needed a 'guy' friend to avoid any influential attitudes from his 'boyfriend' - both thinking that little gestures, such as the Skate Park, would in a way, boost Neku's masculinity and not get prissy like 'Prissy kid', as Beat would say.(1)

"Oh yeah? Let's see who's prissy - get your skateboard, let's see who achieves a heelflip closest" Neku challenges, as Beat smirks at this - he's been practicing kick flips, this was gonna be the ice on the cake.

"You're ON! This is gonna be the Ice on the Cake!"

"Icing, Beat…" Rhyme corrects, but Beat didn't care about side comments once adrenaline was already pumping in his core

"Yeah, you can get cake too, Rhyme - just let me get my skateboard near my bag"

Beat runs to his bag located at the side of a pole, next to the rest of the group's bag, along with many other school kids - Beat's bag, a black backpack - not new, but not old, had felt like it was freshly ironed when his hand made contact with it, just to get his skateboard.

After a few seconds of staring at his bag after getting his skateboard - which was his primary purpose of going to the bags, made the group think among the lines of 'WTF' to his sudden halt. But Beat didn't care about them right now, didn't THINK about them right now…

Right now… all he could think about was cake.

He drops his skateboard next to him and opens his bag, rustling through masses of scrap paper and any other unidentified… err… objects, to find what he shoved in there this morning - his stomach demanded it. Now.

Neku looks at Beat and tells Joshua to hold his skateboard and that he'll see what's holding the older teen with their challenge. Joshua nods and takes his skateboard - making Neku unbeknownst that he would do some… mischief with it - he wouldn't be Composer if he couldn't do as trivial a task as what Shiki and Rhyme, who were right next to him, were exclaiming he should 'really, REALLY do'

Meanwhile, Neku makes it to Beat, as he was still digging in that bottomless bag of him for his lousy-

"Beat, what the hell are you looking for?" Neku says, hand on hip plastered with an annoyed face, witnessing Beat's - as what Neku would think was - stupidity.

"I'm looking… for my breakfast man" he says, hinting struggle at his end

"Well, it better be good breakfast since you wasted like 5--" Neku was interrupted with Beat's cry of success, stretching his hand out in the air, holding his prize from all that effort.

"YEAH! I FOUND IT!" he yells, panting and smiling at something so petty as--

"A jar of chocolate spread?" Neku mumbles, irritated

"Yeah man! I mean come-on!" Beat exclaims happily, he had the same level of amusement like a child's, simplicity, to the blonde, was the next best thing - as Neku could see with Beat getting excited with opening that jar of chocolate spread as if he hadn't eaten in days.

His smile was erased as he opened the lid.

"Oh god, Beat! Gross!" Neku says as if he just drank a cup of Cola

"Oh… Ahhh man!" Beat yells as he shakes the jar, indicating something that disappointed him and made Neku cringe at the sight of it.

"Beat, stop shaking it - that'll just make it worse" he suggests, as Beat still looks at it, with a slight disappointed look on his face, but he does not stop shaking the jar of melted chocolate spread.

Suddenly, Beat raised both his eyebrows simultaneously - having a wave of inspiration pass him. Neku could see it, and that spelt one thing for him - Uh Oh.

Beat smiles mischievously, not considering Neku's small cry of aversion, pouring the jar's contents in his mouth - gulping it down smoothly as if it was like water.

Neku doesn't physically respond, but his face emotionally showed it - with his head shaking slowly and his eyes closed, his ajar mouth showing that he was struggling to keep the ethics and norms at bay, just to let this one moment pass by.

Beat finishes the jar until the last drop was drunk to his last gulp' he sighs, refreshed from that 'drink', and pats his stomach - "That hit the spot"

"Gre-e-a-at…" Neku says sarcastically, forgetting the moment already, as Beat then sees the Composer behind the redhead doing a perfect 360 Inward Heelflip just seconds after that reply. Neku wonders why Beat had stayed with the same solid dumbfounded expression, waving his hand in front of his face a few times.

It was when Beat then came to realise that Joshua was now his hero.

Neku persists, waving his hand in front of Beat still doesn't give him any response of sanity or even life "Hey, Earth to Beat? You there?"

"What?"

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**N.B.**: Each chapter has different characters, different viewpoints and different timelines - but it ALL occurs in one day. One chapter for each of the 4 main characters.

You should be bored/confused about this by now… I know I'm just… err… lost

(1) Beat knows - straight up [irony much]

This was inspired by something I read in a magazine about random moments, and apparently it, approximately, went like: "I accidentally shoved a jar of Nutella in my bag and it was in there all day, completely forgot about it. Later that day I was cleaning out my bag and I saw it, all melted and what not from the heat of the summer day. I drank it - and I don't regret it."

Now THAT'S a guy with balls right there.


End file.
